


Identity Crisis

by d0g-bless (d0gbless)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Identity Issues, Kissing, Spoilers, shiropidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 19:49:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7401484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d0gbless/pseuds/d0g-bless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Pidge no longer recognizes who she is and shares a quiet moment with Shiro. (ShiroPidge)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Identity Crisis

**Author's Note:**

> I started watching today and fell in love with these two. (Tall and smoll!) This is a first attempt at a Voltron fic and writing in present tense (with a little past mixed in as well.) Enjoy!

Lance cups his hands around his mouth. “Hey, Pidge! We’re heading down to the lake. Wanna come?”

Pidge wrenches her gaze away from the thick book in her hands. “Thanks but no thanks, Lance.”

He groans. “It’s not every day we manage to find a planet with clean water like this.”

“It’s also not every day that the Castle crash lands on a strange planet,” Pidge counters. She sticks her nose back into the book—an instruction manual.

Lance mutters a “fine” under his breath and runs off to join the other Paladins. Pidge hears him shout, “Cannonball!” and a splash.

She sighs. It’s a relief to her she no longer needs to explain why she requested a single room at the academy. Even more so that they were okay having a girl on the team.

After her father and brother disappeared, her mother went back to her old job: engineering. “Katie, never go into a male-dominated field,” her mother said. “They will push you around and make you feel inferior. Do you understand, Katie?”

Katie understood all too well. That was only part of the reason she hid who she really was. Of course, being banned from the academy’s campus didn’t help, either. At the time, she thought people would only accept her as a guy. It’d be easier, too. It wasn’t. Hiding her true identity only made it more difficult for her to make friends. Pidge, on the other hand, struggled to understand what her mother meant.

The Paladins accepted her as a girl. They didn’t care if she was a boy or a girl—they accepted her, arms wide open. Most of them already knew and hadn’t said a word. They certainly didn’t treat her any differently, either. They loved her for who she was.

_How can they love me when I don’t even know who I am?_

She only goes down to check on the crystal when absolutely necessary. She avoids bodies of clean, clear water. It is not her face she sees reflected in these surfaces. It is Matt’s. His eyes look into hers—scared, unsure, and confused. Is he confused because he sees Katie Holt? Or someone else?

Sure, she goes by Pidge Gunderson these days. Promenading as the long-lost Matt Holt would certainly raise a few eyebrows—especially if this imposter looked just like him. Her pseudonym didn’t save her from the truth. She stole Matt’s identity: she stole his interests, his spot in the academy, and his appearance. She let him keep his name, but nothing else.

A tall shadow creeps over the manual’s page. Pidge looks over her shoulder and at Shiro’s legs. “You’re blocking my sunlight, Takashi.”

Shiro seats himself behind her. “Better?”

She nods.

The two listen to their friends’ laughter and splashing. Their happiness is infectious. A wide smile finds its way on Shiro’s usually serious face. “Looks like they’re having fun.”

Pidge slams her manual shut. “Then why don’t you go join them?” She snaps up onto her feet. Pivoting on her heel, she starts to take off for the Castle. A metal hand grabs her ankle, rendering her immobile. Her eyes widen in understanding. “Your prosthetic arm.” She slumps to the ground and buries her reddening face in her hands. “I am so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Shiro frees her from his steel grip. “So why aren’t you out there, Katie?”

The way he says Katie clears her mind of anxiety and self-loathing. But he shouldn't say her name. Katie Holt is long gone. Dead, even. All that’s left is Pidge Gunderson: a cheap knock-off of Matt. But when Shiro says her name, Katie comes to life. Her eyes light up because someone saw her. Not as Matt. Not as Pidge. But as Katie.

She hesitates for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. Of what to say. Talking to robots was easy. Fellow human beings? Not so much.  _But Dad always said that actions speak louder than words..._

Pidge removes her glasses and places them in the manual. “Say it again. My name.” She says this urgently, as if her life depends on it.

“Katie.” Shiro leans in, close to her face. “Katie Holt.”

Unable to wait a single tick (or second) longer, she catches her name off of Shiro’s lips with a kiss. It tastes like peppermint—sweet and fresh and clean. She feels Shiro’s thumb and index finger tilt her chin up, closer to him. Her lips draw back into a bright smile, ending the kiss.

_It doesn't matter who I am. Not as long as I'm with Shiro._


End file.
